August31, 2010

Washington, DC –
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton
(D-Mo.) released the statement below on the
redeployment of all U.S. combat forces from Iraq
and on the transition to stability operations in
Iraq:

“Our brave men and women in
uniform have done magnificent work in Iraq against
monumental odds and often in horrendous conditions, and we
should take this moment to thank them and their families
for their selfless service. Our military involvement
in Iraq is not over, but today we move one step closer to
bringing all of our troops home. We have kept our
word to draw down our troops to 50,000 by the end of August
2010, and I hope for the best for the Iraqi people as they
continue to assume responsibility for their security and
their political future.

“I also want to
congratulate the commanders of our mission in Iraq, in
particular General Odierno and his team, for their work
drawing down the levels of U.S. troops and equipment.
Our military has not moved so many men and so much
equipment so quickly since at least Vietnam, and I am
unaware that we have ever done so as smoothly and with as
few errors. Any endeavor so complicated will have
some problems, but so far the drawdown has been a
tremendous, if overlooked, success.”